After graduating from Elgin, Reggie Cole spent two years taking care of things off the court while preparing to make a comeback at Elgin Community College.
The 6-foot freshman guard did just that last season, appearing in 16 games for the Spartans.
This was supposed to be the season he shook off the rust. He wanted to put together a solid selection of video highlights for four-year universities to check out.
“I never wanted to get out of it,” Cole said. “I had a lot of things going on in my life at that time, so I had to build it back and get back to ECC and play.
“It was amazing to get back. For even taking a few years off, I felt way better than I did in high school.”
Cole and the Spartans, however, were dealt some bad news last week. After facing several delays, ECC decided to cancel the 2020-21 men’s basketball season.
Cole, who will graduate from ECC in the spring, is still hoping for a shot to keep his comeback going. It will be more difficult without fresh film to present to coaches.
“It was sad news,” Cole said. “I had to process the fact that my season is over and the ability to get game film and show where my skill level is gone.
“I came back and was hoping to get the juices back flowing and play basketball at a four-year school. This is it for me at ECC.”
Cole isn’t the only player affected by the news.
In addition to the incoming freshman class, which saw the start to their careers delayed by a year, the Spartans have several veteran players facing uncertain futures.
Julian Harvey started last season but was hoping to add to his portfolio. Larkin graduate Keyvon Kyles was poised to make a comeback after two years away from ECC.
St. Edward graduate David Hill also is set to graduate in the spring. He played nearly the same amount of minutes per game last season as Cole did.
“It will be hard for those kids to find a place to go,” ECC coach Reed Nosbisch said. “Those are the guys you feel bad for right now.”
Nosbisch had been ready for the worst last week when word came down.
“I’ve always been a person that prepares himself for the negative to occur,” Nosbisch said. “I told the guys, I don’t want to be the negative one, but if it does come down, I don’t want it to come as a shock to you.
“Last Tuesday night, we had a Zoom call and I broke it to all of them.”
Hill is in the same boat as Cole, being a role player last season for the Spartans.
“I was lucky I got some playing time last year,” Hill said. “It’s just tough.”
Hill’s plans were to be at ECC for only two years, and he remains on that path. He wants move on to a four-year university and hopefully extend his basketball career.
He has something not every player has in this situation, however, and that’s good grades.
“I think especially now, your grades really matter,” Hill said. “I think that’s where you’re going to stand out. If some other player and I have the same skill set, but I have better grades, they’d pick me.”
Nosbisch is there for all of his players as they try to keep their athletic dreams alive.
“If we’re allowed to do workouts second semester, we’ll have them come in and film video of that,” Nosbisch said. “It’s an unprecedented time.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
